Russia says it is scaling back its Syria military presence

A day before the cease-fire took effect, Putin ordered the scale-back.

“The successes of the Syrian armed forces in the liberation of Aleppo have created the necessary conditions for the peaceful settlement of the conflict,” said Russian General Staff chief Gen. Valery Gerasimov. “I’m confident that it will lay the basis for the political settlement of the conflict.”

The first forces to leave, he said, will be the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov, which was deployed in November at the height of the Aleppo offensive, and other, accompanying ships.

Moscow began its military intervention supporting Assad in September 2015. It announced a reduction in its forces once before, in March 2016 during a brief U.S.-Russian-brokered cease-fire and the launch of peace talks in Geneva. A few air units withdrew, but that truce quickly collapsed, peace talks went nowhere, and Moscow again threw renewed military might behind the Syrian government.

At the time, the U.S. estimated that there were 3,000 to 6,000 Russian military personnel in Syria, a number that likely rose before the Aleppo offensive.

Airstrikes from the Kuznetsov began in mid-November and marked the first time it was used in combat. The ship has lost two aircraft — an Su-33 fighter jet that crashed in the Mediterranean in December as it returned to the carrier following a sortie over Syria. In November, a MiG-29 crashed into the sea while trying to land on the vessel.

Weeks of intensive airstrikes and a tightening siege on Aleppo caused rebel defences to crumble, and they were forced to finally evacuate a small enclave of the city they controlled since 2012. The government declared Dec. 22 it had full control of the city, once Syria’s bustling commercial capital.

Syria’s army Chief of Staff Gen. Ali Ayoub visited the aircraft carrier Friday, according to Syrian state television.

He said the vessel has become “part and parcel of the history of war on terrorism,” according to Al-Ikhbariya TV. He added that “signs of victory” loom after all the Syria military sacrifices and “Russia’s honourable position.”

The recapture of Aleppo by Syrian troops and the subsequent cease-fire make Russian forces less critical to Assad at this juncture of the war. The rebels are mostly concentrated in Idlib province, a stronghold in the north on the border with Turkey. They also have a presence around the capital, Damascus, where government and allied forces are focusing their efforts. Opposition groups say the fighting there violates the cease-fire and threatens the peace talks.

The cease-fire is meant to pave the way for negotiations in Astana, Kazakhstan’s capital, later this month. The gathering could give new impetus for U.N.-mediated talks between Syria’s warring sides. The truce, however, doesn’t include areas controlled by the Islamic State group.

On Friday, Syria’s Kurdish-led forces in the north said they have taken control of a medieval castle perched on a hilltop over a strategic town held by IS militants, less than 32 kilometres (20 miles) from Raqqa, the extremist group’s self-declared capital.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces gained control of Jaabar Castle, which dates to the 11th century, following days of intense clashes with IS militants. Seizing control of the castle brings the Kurdish-led forces within 4 kilometres (2.4 miles) of the dam and Tabqa, the second most important town in the province, after Raqqa, SDF spokesman Talal Sillo told The Associated Press. The castle, which IS leaders have used for cover, was in good condition, he said.

The castle sits on the northern bank of Assad Lake, overlooking the strategic Tabqa Dam and the town of the same name.

Built in the late 1960s with help from the Soviet Union, Tabqa Dam is believed to be Syria’s largest. It has created the country’s largest reservoir.

“We try to take control of the dam with the least possible damage, so we are not depending heavily on airstrikes,” Sillo said. The U.S.-led international coalition backs the SDF forces with airstrikes.

Tabqa also houses a number of prisons. Sillo said there are intelligence reports that IS militants have been transferring captives from there to Raqqa.

___

El Deeb reported from Beirut.

Jim Heintz And Sarah El Deeb, The Associated Press

by Canadian Press

Russia says it is scaling back its Syria military presence

What's Trending